By Salim Badat
We are easily deceived. The world shows us politicians, presidents, and prime ministers, their speeches, debates, and promises dominate the headlines.
Yet these men and women are not the real masters of power. Behind them stands another force, older, quieter, but infinitely stronger: the bankers, corporations, and financial dynasties who pull the strings.
This is the economic jihad we overlook, and it is the one that truly matters. Wars are not fought for freedom or democracy; they are fought for oil, gold, gas, and control of infrastructure.
Political leaders are the actors; the financiers write the script.
Qarun Before Firawn: The Quranic Lens of Power
The Quran unmasks this reality in its order of naming oppressors. Allah says in Surah al- Ankabut (29:39):
“And [We destroyed] Qarun and Firawn and Haman. And indeed Moses had come to them with clear proofs, but they were arrogant in the land; and they could not outrun Us.”
Qarun is mentioned before Firawn. This is deeply symbolic. Qarun represents economic power, while Firawn embodies political authority. The Quran shows us that economic dominance always precedes political tyranny. Wealth funds armies, buys rulers, and manipulates societies. Without Qarun, Firawn cannot exist.
The Colonial Blueprint: Dutch & British East India Companies.
The model of modern colonization began not with kings but with companies. The Dutch East India Company and later the British East India Company were the first multinational corporations. They arrived in foreign lands under the banner of trade, but soon dictated laws, controlled ports, and even deployed private armies.
This is the blueprint of financial colonialism: first comes economic infiltration, then political domination, and finally military enforcement.
RIBA (Intetest) : The Engine of Enslavement.
At the heart of humanity’s economic slavery lies riba (interest/usury). The Quran is unequivocal in its condemnation:
“Those who consume interest will stand on the Day of Resurrection like someone beaten by Satan into madness. But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest.” (Al-Baqarah 2:275)
“O you who believe, fear Allah and give up what remains due to you of interest, if you are indeed believers. And if you do not, then be informed of war from Allah and His Messenger…” (Al-Baqarah 2:278–279)
Prophet Muhammad (saw) declared usury one of the gravest sins, cursing both the giver and receiver of interest. Riba is not merely financial injustice, it is economic warfare against the people. For with compound interest, wealth is drained upward, trapping individuals, families, and entire nations in cycles of debt that they cannot escape.
This system is not new. Medieval Europe itself was once enslaved by usury. Jewish banking families and businessmen, barred from land ownership in many regions but permitted to lend money, exploited the desperation of kings and nobles.
Their interest-driven loans grew into unpayable debts, leading to resentment and mass expulsions from countries like England (1290), France (1306), Spain (1492), and others. While the expulsions were often tainted by religious prejudice, the root issue was the same: finance had become a tool of enslavement.
Yet rather than eliminate usury altogether, Europe later absorbed and institutionalized it, birthing the modern banking system. The Rothschilds rose to prominence during the 18th–19th centuries by lending to governments, financing both sides of wars, and expanding the very mechanism the Quran warned would corrupt societies.
Today, central banks, the IMF, and private banking dynasties perpetuate this same cycle of debt slavery across the globe.
True liberation is impossible until usury is uprooted. Without it, wealth would circulate fairly; with it, humanity remains chained.
From Colonies to Corporations: The Families Who Rule.
Today, the same model continues. Only the names have changed. The weapons are not only cannons and rifles but loans, debt, and currency manipulation.
The Rothschild family pioneered central banking, lending to both sides of wars for profit.
The Rockefellers built their empire on oil monopolies and now control energy, pharmaceuticals, and global NGOs.
The Oppenheimers and De Beers cartel still dominate diamond and mineral extraction in Southern Africa.
The British Crown and its banking networks quietly reap wealth from former colonies through legal trusts and offshore accounts.
Institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank act as the modern East India Companies, trapping nations in cycles of debt while seizing infrastructure as collateral.
Even the U.S. Federal Reserve, a private central bank owned by shareholders, prints money out of thin air and dictates global finance.
Palestine: Occupied Land, Occupied Resources.
Palestine’s tragedy is not only political or military, it is profoundly economic. Behind the bombs and bulldozers is a quieter theft: the looting of land, water, minerals, and gas.
Gaza Marine Gas Field: 1 trillion cubic feet of gas, locked away by Israel and foreign energy firms.
Dead Sea Minerals: Potash and bromine worth billions, stolen by Israel Chemicals Ltd. and Ahava.
Stone Quarries: “Jerusalem Stone” extracted while Palestinians face restrictions.
Water: Controlled by Israel’s Mekorot; Palestinians are forced to buy their own stolen water.
Agriculture: Olive groves uprooted, Israeli agribusiness exports food grown on occupied soil.
The occupation of Palestine is as much about gas and minerals as it is about territory.
South Africa: Liberation Without Economic Freedom.
1994 ended apartheid politically but not economically. The real apartheid remained: control of mines, banks, and resources.
Diamonds (De Beers/Oppenheimers): Monopolized global supply for over a century.
Gold (AngloGold Ashanti): Billions extracted, poverty wages paid.
Platinum (Lonmin, Implats): 70% of world supply controlled by multinationals; Marikana Massacre exposed the collusion of state and capital.
Coal (Glencore): Foreign corporations profit while South Africans endure power cuts.
Banks (Standard, FirstRand, Nedbank, Absa): Tied into British and U.S. finance, keeping wealth externalized.
The rainbow flag was raised, but the treasure stayed locked away.
South America: A Continent Plundered.
South America, rich in natural resources, has long been a playground for corporations, banks, and Western powers.
- Chile – Copper Empire.
Chile holds the world’s largest copper reserves. Yet Codelco, the state company, coexists with foreign giants like BHP, Anglo American, and Glencore, which extract billions annually. During the Cold War, the CIA backed the overthrow of Salvador Allende because he sought to nationalize copper. - Venezuela – Oil and the Dollar
Home to the largest proven oil reserves on earth, Venezuela became a target when Hugo Chavez pushed for independence from U.S. oil corporations. Sanctions, coups, and economic sabotage were deployed to bring its resources back under Western control. - Bolivia – Lithium, the “New Oil”
Bolivia’s salt flats contain 50–70% of the world’s lithium, essential for electric car batteries. When Evo Morales attempted to nationalize lithium for the Bolivian people, he was overthrown in a coup backed by foreign interests and corporations like Tesla’s suppliers. - Brazil – Amazon and Agriculture
Brazil’s Amazon holds immense timber, water, and biodiversity wealth. Multinational agribusinesses — Cargill, Monsanto (now Bayer), JBS — profit while deforestation accelerates. The Amazon is not just an ecological treasure but a vast economic prize.
In every case, South America’s democracies are manipulated or destroyed when leaders attempt resource sovereignty.
Follow the Money: The Hidden Story of Every War.
Strip away the propaganda and every modern conflict reveals an economic motive:
World War I — Oil, Ottoman destruction, Russian destruction ( Jewish Bolshevic Revolution ) Israel creation.
World War II — Global financial reset, birth of IMF/World Bank.
Iraq and Libya — Punished for rejecting the U.S. dollar.
Afghanistan — Pipelines and rare minerals.
Palestine — Gas, water, minerals.
South Africa — Liberation without resource sovereignty.
South America — Coups and sanctions for copper, oil, and lithium.
It is always the same people, the same institutions, the same theft.
The Economic Jihad: Reclaiming Our Wealth.
The Quran commands us to build an economy of justice, where wealth circulates fairly:
“so that it does not circulate only among the rich among you.” (Al-Hashr 59:7)
The economic jihad is our duty. A jihad of struggle:
Building interest-free financial systems rooted in Islamic principles.
Supporting local businesses and community-driven economies.
Exposing corporations and banks that loot our nations.
Demanding that oil, gold, diamonds, gas, and water serve the people, not foreign shareholders.
Without this struggle, political freedom will remain a lie.
Conclusion: Seeing Beyond the Puppets.
We must stop mistaking puppets for masters. Politicians are shadows; financiers are the substance. From Qarun to Rothschild, from the East India Companies to the IMF, from De Beers to Glencore, the pattern is unbroken: wealth first, politics second, war third.
Until we wage the forgotten jihad, the economic jihad, we will remain enslaved, no matter how many flags we raise or constitutions we write.
Author’s Note: This article was inspired by an imam I heard last week speaking on this subject. I have expanded on his reflections with further analysis. It is my hope that more imams would approach geopolitics with such depth and clarity.